Nic Mon made his presence felt on both sides of the ball for Bishop Diego on Friday night.
Mon intercepted two Malibu passes to lead a strong defensive performance and he caught a beautifully thrown 30-yard spiral from quarterback Nolan Tisdale for the final touchdown of a 22-0 Bishop victory in the Frontier League football opener at a foggy La Playa Stadium.
Bishop’s offense wasn’t at its best in the Homecoming game. If it had capitalized on Malibu’s turnovers, the score would have been more one-sided.
“We got turnovers, we just didn’t convert them offensively, and that’s disappointing,” Bishop coach Tom Crawford said. “I know we didn’t execute very well offensively in the game. “The nice thing, from that perspective, is it shows everybody we have work to do.”
The Cardinals were good enough to win their fifth in a row and post their first shutout of the season.
Bishop scored on its first possession of the game, driving 80 yards in 10 plays. Running back Jack Gregson scored the touchdown on a 2-yard run behind the left side of the line. A bad snap on the PAT left the score 6-0 at the 5:12 mark of the first quarter. The big play on the drive was a short pass to the speedy Sam Kwock, who turned it into a 39-yard gain.
On the ensuing kickoff, Kwock’s speed enabled him to recover Justin Brosnan’s onsides kick at the Malibu 36.
But Bishop couldn’t take advantage of the field position and punted the ball away.
The Cardinal defense stepped up. On second down from the 8, Nolan Tooley slowed a scrambling Malibu quarterback Brennan Cassone and Thomas Renick tackled him in the end zone for a safety and an 8-0 lead.
With Malibu focusing on stopping Brandon Gonzalez, Gregson had a good night running the football. The junior had runs of 10 and 20 yards on a 79-yard drive to set up the second touchdown, which he scored on a 7-yard run.
Gregson finished with 129 yards on 15 carries. Gonzalez had 54 on 16 carries.
Under heavy pressure, Cassone threw a desperation pass that was caught by wide receiver Hunter Johnson for a 31-yard gain to the Bishop 35. But the Sharks’ drive was derailed when Mon recorded his first interception at the 18-yard line.
“Our defensive line put a lot of pressure on their quarterback, so that gave me opportunities, some of which I capitalized on,” said Mon. “It was more of a team effort.”
He would pick off another pass in the third quarter.
Gabe Molina also intercepted a pass, leaping high in the air to snare the ball in the fourth quarter.
Casssone completed 7 of 16 passes for 106 yards and the three interceptions.
Bishop quarterback Nolan Tisdale was an efficient 10 of 18 for 152 yards and one score.
The TD pass was a perfectly thrown ball, right into the arms of Mon, who streaking up the right side.
“It was a great pass from quarterback Nolan Tisdale,” said Mon. “He read the corner was up tight, so he knew he was going to me.”
Bishop is 5-1, 1-0 and Malibu is 4-3 and 0-1.
Malibu…0 0 0 0 — 0
Bishop Diego…8 7 7 0 — 22
First quarter
BD—Gregson 2 run, (bad snap on PAT), 5:12
BD—Safety, Cassone tackled in end zone, 3:00
Second quarter
BD—Gregson 7 run (Brosnan kick), 2:48
Third quarter
BD—Mon 30 pass from Tisdale (Brosnan kick), 8:20
